


Here We Come A Caroling

by carnivalinsidemyhead



Category: Take That
Genre: Christmas fic, Fluff, Gen, M/M, early 90s fic, highly perceptive old lady, hints of Nigel planting self doubt in them, they’re very bad at hiding the gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 19:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17127545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carnivalinsidemyhead/pseuds/carnivalinsidemyhead
Summary: Having them go door to door caroling around Manchester in their bondage gear outfits and Santa hats had to be Nigel’s daftest band promo idea yet.





	Here We Come A Caroling

“We WON’T go until we get some! We WON’T go until we get some, We WO..”

*slam*

“That’s the third house tonight’s done that,” Jason commented bleakly. 

“Dunno as I blame them though”, remarked Howard. “I mean, look at us.”

Having them go door to door caroling around Manchester in their bondage gear outfits and Santa hats had to be Nigel’s daftest band promo idea yet. 

“What even is figgy pudding anyway?” demanded Robbie.  
Mark crinkled his nose up in thought. “I think it’s just another name for plum pudding.”

“Well why doesn’t it just fucking say that?!”

“Actually dried fruits of all types in the pre Victorian era were referred to as either figs or plums,” Jason piped up helpfully. 

“Err..right. Good to know, that is. Shall we move on to the next street then?” Gary asked, trying to steer everyone back on track.

 

“Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen…”

“You boys will catch y’ death out there! For pity’s sake, come inside and have a cuppa.”

They smiled gratefully at the grandmotherly woman standing in the doorway. 

“We don’t want to impose,” Mark hesitated.  
She shook her head briskly. “Nonsense! I don’t know why you’re all daft enough to be running around without shirts on in the bloody middle of winter but I insist on getting something warm down you lot. Now come in and mind you shut the door good, I don’t want a draft.” 

Robbie grinned at her as they followed her into the house. “You sound just like my nan you do.”

“An admirable woman, I’m sure. I’m thinking she wouldn’t much approve of all this?” She asked, waving vaguely in the direction of Jason’s codpiece. 

“Oh no, she quite likes the codpieces. But she’d definitely call us a bunch of daft gits for running around like this tonight.”

She laughed. “I like your nan.” She marched briskly into the kitchen. “Right. How does everyone take their tea?”

A short while later they were all sitting in the parlor sipping their tea. Gary, Howard, and Jason were on the sofa and Mark was beside them in a straight backed chair that he’d brought in from the kitchen. Robbie stood hovering behind Mark and occasionally reaching down to ruffle his hair. 

“So tell me about yourselves then,” she smiled at them from her rocker. 

They all looked at Gary.

“Well, we’re a band, y’see. I’m Gary and this is Howard, Jason, Robbie, and Mark. We’re called Take That.” 

“I see. And these...er...costumes...are they the sort of thing you wear on stage then?”

Gary nodded. “It was our manager’s idea for us to wear them caroling,” he explained. 

She raised her eyebrows at that. “Well I’m sure he knows what he’s doing,” she said, not sounding sure in the slightest. 

“This might not have been his brightest idea,” Gary admitted reluctantly.

“He looks after you all right, though, your manager?” 

An awkward silence fell over the room. Jason suddenly became extremely interested in combing through the fringes on the afghan behind him while Robbie developed an intense fascination with the pattern of the rug. 

“Oh yes! Yes ma’am! He’s great. He’s like a mother to us, is Nigel,” Mark spoke up hastily with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. 

She pursed her lips doubtfully. “I don’t know many mums who would have their sons go round shirtless in the cold,” she commented drily. 

Howard snorted at that, then looked down, a bit embarrassed.

She smiled at him. “You’ve been awfully quiet, lad. You all right?”

He nodded shyly. “How’s just a bit timid is all,” Jason assured her, giving his hand a squeeze. 

“It must take a lot of courage for you to get up on stage and..sing? Is that what you do? You’re a singing group? I’m guessing since you’re not dragging around any instruments.”

“It’s different from talking to folks, being up on stage. It’s easier,” Howard answered.  
“And I mostly dance, me, though I sing a bit too. I’m learning the drums a little bit too but I dunno if I’m gonna play them in our shows. Haven’t gotten good enough yet I don’t think.”

“And the rest of you?”

Jason spoke up. “Well, Gary does most of the singing and he plays keyboards as well. He writes most of our songs, too, does Gaz. And Robbie does a lot of singing as well and he raps a bit too. And How and Markie and me, we mostly sing back up and do a lot of breakdancing.”

“You mean, you and How breakdance and I try not to make an arse of myself,” Mark corrected him. His tone was light, but Jason frowned. 

“You’ve been getting a lot better at your dancing, Markie. And you shouldn’t keep comparing yourself to me and How and putting yourself down for not being able to do all the moves we can yet. We’ve been doing it for years now. You only started a few months ago.”

“You always put yourself down too much, Markie,” Robbie echoed Jason’s sentiments. He draped his arms loosely over his shoulders and nuzzled him a little bit, giving him a fond kiss on his forehead. Jason and Howard smiled secretly over that, their hands intertwining. 

“You really seem to look out for each other, don’t you?”  
“We try to, ma’am,” Jason told her.

She nodded. “Mind you keep doing that, you hear?”

“Yes’m. We will.”

She smiled at them. “Good lads. Now, since I dragged you all in before you finished your song, would you boys mind singing it for me here?”

“We’d be glad to,” Gary told her. “Right lads, from the count of three, 1, 2..”

“Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen  
When the snow lay round about deep and crisp and even….”

“You’ve all got just lovely voices. Thank you for letting me hear you.” 

Gary accepted her praise politely and easily, considering it his due. The others, not as accustomed to being complimented, mumbled their thanks while looking down or away from her, slightly overcome with embarrassment.

She frowned at this. “Does no one ever tell you that?”

“Well..my mum’s always said I had a nice voice..but y’know, she’s my mum…” Robbie spoke up. 

“Gary’s got the real voice,” Jason answered nervously. “Us lot are better off just singing backup for him.”

She turned to Gary, looking at him sharply as if judging his character. He flushed slightly and spoke up carefully. 

“Yeah, but Jay, I wouldn’t sound half as good without you all backing me up.”

She nodded at him approvingly and then rose from her chair. 

“Right. Well I won’t keep you boys any longer. I’m sure you have more houses you have to go sing at.”

They nodded. “We got a club show later tonight as well,” added Howard. 

“He certainly keeps you busy, this Nigel.” She paused and looked them over consideringly.  
“Would you two mind helping me with clearing up the tea things back into the kitchen before you go?” She asked, looking at Howard and Jason. 

“Yes’m. We’d be glad to.” Jason replied. He carried the tray of cups and saucers and Howard picked up the chair that Mark had been sitting on and they followed her towards the kitchen. When they reached the threshold, she turned and said, chuckling a bit, “I’ll take those off your hands, so you can take full advantage.”

They looked confusedly at her. She pointed up to the ceiling where a mistletoe garland was hanging over them.

Jason coughed flusteredly. “Oh no, we...we’re not..we’re just good fr..”

She shook her head and smiled a little bit. “You can’t fool an old woman.”

Both boys blushed slightly and then Howard leaned in and gave Jason a soft gentle peck on the lips. 

“You love him, don’t you?” It was unclear who this was addressed to, but it hardly mattered. They both nodded. 

“It’s the same with those two, isn’t it?” She asked, gesturing towards the parlor where Robbie and Mark were standing forehead to forehead and holding hands and quietly giggling over some secret joke. 

“We think it probably is, yeah,” Jason admitted. 

“Mind what I told you all before. You look out for each other. No matter what happens. You’re all going to need each other more than you realize, I suspect.” 

Howard nodded. “We will ma’am. We promise.”

They headed towards the front of the house where the others were waiting by the door.

“Thank you for inviting us in,” Mark told her. They all echoed his thanks then followed Gary out the door one by one. 

Then Jason ran back in to give her a quick hug and peck on the cheek and whisper “thank you. for...you know..for understanding.”

And with that he was out the door. 

“You look out for each other. No matter what happens.”  
“We will, ma’am. We promise.”

She looked out her window at the five boys walking down the street, all laughing arm in arm together.

“I hope you do. I really hope you do.”


End file.
